As NASA’s latest Mars Rover, Persistence, continues with its own pay points and tests, begins a new phase of the mission – the Ingenuity helicopter. This first piece of hardware will, for the first time, propel a flight to a world other than Earth (not rocket). Data from these flights – which are expected to start in 30-60 days – will help develop future missions to Mars and beyond.
Ingenuity is an experimental addition to the Mars 2020 mission. No matter the results of his test campaign, it will not have a significant effect on the primary mission.
Teams plan for a 30-day flight window for the helicopter. They are currently aiming for a minimum of one flight, but this could be expanded. The first flight will contain a relatively simple hover test of 20 to 30 seconds before landing. After that, flights will take longer and travel further.
Ingenuity features a pair of coaxial, 1.2-meter-long carbon fiber rotors. ‘Coaxial’ means that the rotors are stacked on top of each other and rotate in opposite directions, which dramatically increases the lift with minimal surface enlargement.
The rotors rotate at a speed of 2,400 rotations per minute (RPM) – much higher than the approximately 500 RPM of many helicopters on Earth. The rotors must rotate rapidly to account for the extremely thin Mars atmosphere.
Ingenuity after meeting at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The carbon fiber patterns on the rotors and legs are visible. Credit: NASA.
The helicopter is powered by a single solar power above the rotors that charge six lithium-ion batteries. These batteries will turn on Ingenuity to fly up to 90 seconds at a time. A single flight of 90 seconds – the maximum flight time of Ingenuity – will consume about 8.75 watt-hours – less power than in an iPhone 12 battery.
Four legs of carbon fiber protruding from the corners of the main body absorb extra velocity and shocks during landing.
The combination of the small size and the large amount of composite materials Ingenuity especially light, with a mass of 1.8 kilograms. On Earth it comes down to 17.7 Newtons (4.0 pounds), but in the lower gravity of Mars, Ingenuity weighs only 6.7 Newtons (1.5 pounds).
Once from Persistence, Ingenuity will communicate with the earth through the rover. Each has a small antenna to talk to each other, and the rover will transmit data to the earth using its more powerful communications suite.
During the voyage to Mars, Ingenuity communicated and power received directly through Persistence.
On 13 August 2020, NASA announced that the helicopter had been switched on and reloaded into space for the first time. That was about two weeks after launch. The batteries are only charged up to 35%, as each full charge and discharge of lithium-ion batteries slightly reduces their lifespan. Keeping it at a low to medium charge level reduces the impact.
Engineers repeat this test approximately every two weeks during the cruise to Mars.
Persistence – with Ingenuity stuck to his belly – touched on 18 February 2021 on Mars.
The helicopter is currently still connected to Persistence, as the latter has completed its pay points and initial operation on the Mars surface.
On March 2, the rover successfully deployed and tested its robotic arm. The arm contains various instruments and cameras, especially the drill. It also contains the PIXL and SHERLOC instruments – which contain an x-ray and ultraviolet spectrometer, respectively. This will allow more detailed analysis of surface material.
A view of the Mars surface – with fresh tire tracks – as seen by Perseverance after the first ride on March 4th. Credit: NASA.
Two days later, on March 4, Persistence completed his first ride over Mars. The 6.5-meter-long trek gave rover operators and mission planners at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) their first opportunity to test and calibrate the Rover’s cars. The short ride consisted of a movement of four meters forward, a turn of 150 degrees and a final ride of 2.5 meters in reverse gear. The team reported that the performance of the Rover was excellent.
They are now searching for a flat and clear area – nicknamed “helipad” – on which Ingenuity will be deployed. Once Persistence find and move to such a place, the team will order the drug order to deploy Ingenuity. This will take place approximately 30 days after landing.
The deployment process consists of several steps to deliver the helicopter to the Mars surface.
First, that coverage protects Ingenuity will be captured, and Persistence will drive away. Then the first connections with the helicopter will be cut, and two of the landing legs will be deployed – it turns away from the belly of the car. It will then be rotated into a fully upright position under the rover, where the last two legs are deployed.
Persistence will then decrease Ingenuity on the surface, and drive away to a safe distance.
IngenuityThe solo test campaign will start with a series of internal pay points, which in particular test whether it can maintain a stable temperature and recharge its batteries with its small solar panel.
If all these steps are completed successfully, the rotors will be spun to a high speed, although it is not fast enough to lift the vehicle off the surface. This will ensure that the cars operate nominally and clean the vehicle for flight.
As previously discussed, the initial flight will take 20-30 seconds and consist of Ingenuity floats at a small height above the surface. Should the flight be successful, later the helicopter will perform more complex operations.
The current test window will only last 30 days, but it will probably be extended if Ingenuity performs well.
Ingenuity is the beginning of another world flight. No matter what the outcome, it provides a huge amount of data to help the designers of future helicopters beyond the earth.
The first mission is Dragonfly, a large drone with eight rotors that will explore a portion of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. Dragonfly will be the same size as Persistence, and actually uses an identical Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) for power.
The MMRTG will charge Dragonfly’s batteries during Titan Night, enabling 30-minute flights and data downlink during the day.
Dragonfly contains numerous experiments to study Titan’s atmosphere, surface composition and seismology. This will be the second mission to Titan Huygens in 2005.
Dragonfly launches in 2027 and lands on Titan in 2036.
(Main version of perseverance and ingenuity – via Mack Crawford for NSF / L2)